Scout is an abandoned kitten I've taken in and he is gorgeous.
Much more confident and loves attention.
Here's the dilema though, he does anything he can to be close to me ( rubs around my ankles, comes to greet me whenever I enter the room, sits on my shoulders while I sleep and my face when i'm on the laptop) but he does not like pats!
I pat him on his head and his purs but within a couple of seconds he turns into a little and bites my hand (doesn't hurt but it's a warning). Is it possible that this has something to do with his past and has anyone experienced this and had the kitten grow out of it?
It's for purely selfish reasons, I love being able to pat my cats !

I'm sure he'll grow out of it.
It's just needs something to he needs to get used to

Or he could just had enough of the petting.
My sister had a cat that didn't like to be pet so much.
She'd love to pet like crazy then after a while she'll just bite/scratch your hand and then hiss at you as if to say "Right, I've had enough now sod off" lol

Sounds like my kitty when he was little! When he was a young kitten, he really didn't like getting pets, although he would follow me around like crazy. You could pet him for about three seconds before you had a playful bite coming your way. I just kept petting him for as long as he would let me. I think it is mostly a kitten thing, and he just needs time to get used to it. My kitty is about 8 months old now, and as I type this he is snuggled on my arm, nudging me for pets and cuddles!

Exactly, cats are characters by themself, each one is unique and this one is not pat-friendly.
For example, my cats do not like when I scratch their bellies or hold their paws. If I do, I will get ultimate armageddon scratch attack level 25.